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Optical and near-infrared flares in GRB afterglows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2012

Thomas Krühler
Thomas Krühler*
Affiliation:
Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. email: tom@dark-cosmology.dk
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Abstract

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Among the diversities in the very early evolution of GRB afterglows are bright optical/near-infrared flares before or superimposed onto an otherwise smoothly decaying afterglow light curve. A lot has been learned about GRBs by using an optical flare or lack thereof as a diagnostic of the emission mechanisms and outflow conditions. In this contribution I will review the observational properties of rising and decaying light-curves in GRB afterglows, discuss their possible physical origins, and highlight in which way they help in understanding GRB and afterglows physics.

Keywords

gamma rays: bursts

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